conveyor • power transmission • timing • plastic modular

05/17/2012

Six weeks ago we launched a new website design. While we have continued to make improvements to it, I wanted to take a minute and run over some of the key features that you will find with this new design. These seem to be what we are getting the most questions about, so I thought it best to put together a quick reference list.

First of all, we now have ONE site that encompasses all of our products. No more individual sites for different product ranges. You’ll find everything you need in one stop; www.habasitamerica.com

A log in for literature downloads is no longer needed. All literature PDFs can be downloaded from the Services menu.

Our newest feature, Customer Connect, allows customers to view their orders, shipments, quotes and our fabric belt inventory. This feature you must register for before you can access it. From the Customer Connect link on the left hand side of the page is where you access this feature to login or register.

The login button on the top of the page is for our Premier Distributors only. This allows special access to Premier’s for training sessions and newsletters.

The search feature has been optimized and you can quickly find joining sheets or product data sheets by simply typing in a few keywords. For example, to locate the joining data sheets for MAM-04H, type ‘joining MAM-04H’ into the search field. All viable information regarding this product will be displayed.

All Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) can be located under the Fabrication menu at the top of the page. Please make sure you download the EN/US version!

There is SO much to explore on our newly designed website! I hope everyone has had a chance to navigate it. With all new things come some growing pains and adjustments, should you need any assistance with locating something, please ask. Anyone at Habasit would be happy to help walk you through the process!

05/15/2012

It’s been said that bacon can make everything taste better. Chefs and other food prepares seem to be putting that axiom to the test, because bacon is showing up in all sorts of non-traditional ways (including bacon-flavored ice cream!). All of the new uses for bacon have created a market for pre-cooked varieties used in the home, sandwich shops and large-scale food production facilities.

A well-know processor of microwave bacon in the Midwest was utilizing plastic modular belt to convey bacon slices and bits through a microwave oven. This is normally an efficient way of cooking large amounts of bacon. The processor recognized that the belts wear out and have to be replaced every four to six months. Habasit was invited to look at the process to introduce its M2586 belt, which was designed specifically for the microwave bacon industry.

Habasit representatives discovered that, in addition to replacing belts with greater regularity than necessary, the food processor experienced many other issues that resulted in downtime interrupting production. After surveying the maintenance staff and line workers, it was determined that these interruptions were caused by the current belt being used.

Just like when you’re cooking bacon in a pan at home, the frying process produces grease that is highly flammable. The same holds true for microwave bacon. The excess grease has a tendency to build up on the modular belt, causing flame ups. An unwanted flame in a high-speed bacon facility can be a safety hazard for workers.

Other production interruptions occurred when retaining pins on the belt would start to work their way out. This resulted in conveyor jams and belt breakage, which left gaps in the conveying surface where the bacon would fall through.

The production team at the bacon processor was pessimistic about the ability of the Habasit belt to solve a problem they didn’t even know they had until it was pointed out to them. However, because they’re continually looking for ways to improve productivity and throughput, they gave Habasit a chance to prove their belt.

Into the frying pan

Habasit accepted the challenge to show the processor how to add life and uptime to their process.

Habasit and a local distributor worked side by side with plant maintenance personnel to install the first belt. It required some adjustments to be made in the transfer areas where cooked bacon is transported to another conveyor and readied for packaging.

The clock was now ticking on Habasit’s belt. The bacon processor and Habasit agreed on a schedule to benchmark the belt in three month increments. After the first three months, there were no signs of wear to the belt and a noticed reduction of flame ups. After six months, when the competitor’s belt would normally be replaced, there were still no signs of wear. After 18 months, the Habasit M2586 had lasted three times longer than the competition. In fact, the belt was still running after 24 months but was becoming discolored in the cooking lanes, so the processor decided to replace it for aesthetic purposes.

In the end, the bacon processor realized savings in excess of $300,000. The cost reduction was not limited to tripling the life of the belt. Considerable savings were achieved because the maintenance crew was no longer called to the line three to four times per week to fix a belt that was coming apart. Production throughput significantly increased in areas that no longer experienced breakdowns, belt change outs and flame ups. The icing on the cake (or the bacon on the burger in this case) was the ability to capture more of the grease renderings during the cooking process. The bacon grease is sold as a byproduct, resulting in extra revenue added to the company’s bottom line.

Habasit proved to be the solution provider this company was looking for. Over the next three years, the bacon processor replaced all of its existing belts with Habasit belts, making them standard throughout the plant.

04/25/2012

One of the world’s largest snack food manufacturers was having problems with an incline conveyor on their potato chip line. This conveyor took the chips from the scale up to the bagger machine to get them prepared for packaging. The competitor’s belt was breaking and they had to replace it every three months. Production was declining and cost increasing.

This snack food manufacturer contacted Habasit to help solve their problem. We recommended the KVP CC41 with 6” bucket flights and polyamide rods but stainless steel rods on the flighted rows. Our product provided a higher temperature, more abrasive resistant material as well as a closed hinge style belt. The benefit of the closed hinge is protection of the rods from the chips and therefore a longer lasting belt life.

With the competitor’s belt, this end user was spending approximately $20,000 on belt replacement cost every three months. With the Habasit belt, not only did they see double the life, but replacement costs were cut in half too. Over a year’s time Habasit saved this end user $66,000 in just belt replacement. Production increased and maintenance decreased as a benefit too. This chip maker was very happy with the solution Habasit provided and is looking for other opportunities were we can save them money.

04/10/2012

Ever wonder what's behind the Habasit logo and name? Well, here's a little history for you.

The company name combines the first letters of the family name, “Habegger”, and the town where the company was formed “Basel”, while the ending comes from synthetic material names used in manufacturing conveyor belts, such as “Bakelit”.

The logo symbolizes different stages of our conveyor products. On the right hand side, the different sections indicate the different layers of our product in the beginning stages. Conveyor belts are in general manufactured with a conveying side, in the center a traction layer and a reverse side; the green and black curves represent this structure. The circular form at the top right side indicates the coils of our finished products.

The green of our logo was chosen from the Habasit founder Fernand Habegger in 1946 in order to differentiate Habasit among the masses of other company logos. Most logos back then were mainly red and blue. Still today, green is rather seldom used as a logo color. Black is used to symbolize the traction layer which usually is embedded in the center of each conveyor belt and in reality, is mostly always black.

02/29/2012

When most people think of conveyor belt systems, what comes to mind is a heavy duty belt used in some kind of industrial or machine fashion. Things like airport luggage management systems, package sorting and transport, and grocery store check-out lanes all jump to mind. While these are certainly common uses for conveyors, are they the only ones? For many businesses, the answer is no.

Boiling Conveyor Systems Down To Essentials

At their heart, conveyors are designed to do one thing: move things. The way in which they do this can be quite varied depending on what it is that needs to be moved, how heavy it is, and how far it has to go. This part is the same whether it's tons of rock or a simple product. What differs is the scale on which it moves things. For example, it takes a lot more force and a lot more power to move a ton of rock than it does a small product purchased at a grocery store. Although these two applications will likely look quite different, the same technology is at work.

Conveyor Belt Systems Reduce Employee Workload

The goal of any kind of conveyor is to save a step for the humans. If there is no conveyor to carry the item from point A to point B, it must be carted around by hand. For some smaller things this is not an issue, but for large items or items which are frequently moved along the same path it can become tedious and annoying. This kind of scenario is among the most promising for some type of conveyor assistance. If there is a single direction of travel along a path with no deviation, there is no real reason why a conveyor can't handle that transport better than a human.

As a result, people are able to focus on tasks better suited for their natural abilities. Rather than simply carting things around, they can add detail, refine designs, or interact with others. All of these are things that conveyors cannot so readily offer. Moving heavy objects, on the other hand, is something they can do with ease.

Opportunities Abound

The possible industry applications are quite numerous for conveyor systems; bakeries, candy manufacturing, newspapers and magazine printing, even ATM machines have a conveyor belt that gives and takes money. And the opportunities grow every time a new development in belt technology arises. Remember, these belts and related technologies are not just for industrial applications, conveyor systems are widely found in many different industries and have abundant uses.

02/03/2012

Habasit has a small connection to the Super Bowl this weekend...gearmotors! Rossi gearmotors, a Division of Habasit Group, operate the retractable roof at Lucas Oil Stadium. When the stadium was built in 2008, the retractable roof was the first of it's kind. It's unique two panel moving roof design is supported on five rails. The opening area is 176,400 square feet and it takes about 9 - 11 minutes to fully open.

So what does it take to open such a large structure? You would think the single largest engine in the world! But no, it only takes 128 motors and a total of 480 horsepower to move the roof. There are 32 motors on each side of the two panels and each motor is 7.5 horsepower. That puts them somewhere between a push mower (5hp) and a riding mower (10hp).

01/13/2012

With the beginning of a new year always comes a new year of trade shows. As we have for at least the last 7 years, Habasit will again exhibit at the 2012 International Poultry Exposition in Atlanta, GA at the end of January. Make sure you stop by and visit us at booth #5159. The International Poultry Expo is the primary source of funding for the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, the world's largest and most active poultry organization. It represents the entire industry as an "All Feather" association. Membership includes producers and processors of broilers, turkeys, ducks, eggs, and breeding stock. Attendance for 2011 was 20,742 with the majority of those coming from facilities in Georgia. They are expecting a similar turnout for 2012.

Habasit will have on display several demo units for the industry, show casing our plastic modular belts and gearmotors. The Habasit HyCLEAN delivers outstanding reliability and cost-efficiency. The creation and maintenance of optimal hygiene conditions are among the greatest challenges faced by the food industry today, making hygienic design and ease of cleaning crucial for equipment and components used in hygiene-sensitive food processes. Conveyor belts have an important role to play as they are often in direct contact with food.

The Habasit HyCLEAN plastic modular belt family was developed to improve hygiene conditions and cleaning procedures in food processing areas. The HyCLEAN package includes a patented sprocket and a 2” flat top module, both with a unique hygienic design.

It also includes a patented modular CIP (Clean-in-Place) system for plastic modular and other synthetic belts. The Habasit HyCLEAN CIP enables faster and more reliable cleaning cycles and is adjustable to specific application dimensions and process set-ups. The system works even with low water pressure and allows precise positioning of water jets therefore delivering substantial reductions in water use compared with other CIP systems. Late December 2011 EHEDG (the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group) awarded the HyCLEAN a Certificate of Compliance. Habasit is the first belt manufacturer to receive EHEDG certification for one of its solutions.

For more information about the HyCLEAN CIP or any of the other solutions that Habasit has to offer the poultry industry, make sure you stop by booth #5159 at IPE. If you won’t be in town for the show, that’s ok, give us a call. We’d be happy to answer any of your questions.

12/02/2011

Wow! Is it already December? How the time flies by when you’re having fun. 2011 has been a great year for Habasit; and you too I hope. It’s been a great year for the manufacturing sector overall with record highs almost each and every month. We love to hear that! We’ve also seen record highs within the conveyor industry on orders booked. Conveyors do run the world! (At least I like to think so J). Projects for overnight carriers, distribution centers and even airports have seen a significant increase in 2011. A large conveyor OEM will be adding 200 jobs over the next three years and Kaman Industrial is building a new facility in Milwaukee to accommodate the growing rubber business they have seen. Conveyors are ultimately such a large part of everything in our world; it’s great to see the increase in some of the different industries we service.

2011 has brought about major changes here at Habasit. We switched over to a new ERP system in July (and we thank all of you for your patience in this process). While we experienced some growing pains as part of this integration, overall it has been successful and brought about many positive things for our customers and for us as a company.

We also welcomed a new General Manager to Habasit in September, Bob Logston. Long time industry man Harry Cardillo retired after 30 years of service. We welcomed Bob into our family with his expertise on International business and we look forward to the years ahead with him at the forefront of Habasit America.

As 2011 comes to a close, we want to thank all of you for your support and we look forward to a prosperous 2012! As you get ready to track Santa as he makes his way around the world, we want to remind you of our Customer Care Holiday Hours. Happy Holidays!!

11/03/2011

According to the US Food and Drug Administration’s own website there have been 30 food product recalls in the 30 days prior to this article and 50% of those recalls are reported to be the result of contamination by microorganisms.The statistics further show that about 48 million Americans (1 in 6) get sick each year as a result of food borne illness and of the 128,000 hospitalized; 3,000 die as a result.

In January of this year President Obama signed into lawthe U.S Food Safety Modernization Act that shifts the focus of federal regulators from responding to contamination to preventing it.The conveyor belt industry has its part to play by developing products and services to assist the food community with the ability to process food on conveyor belts that have been designed for that purpose. Habasit has taken this initiative one step further by developing a belt cleaning system called the HyCLEAN CIP (Clean In Place) system which further compliments the already available HyCLEAN conveyor belt and HyCLEAN sprocket.

This automated system provides the processor with a method for efficiently and reliably cleaning their conveyor belts. The system eliminates the risks of manual procedures and ensures repeatable microbiological belt cleaning results. In addition, it supports sustainable processing by reducing water consumption on conveyor belt cleaning by up to 50% combined with controlling the use of detergents. As a result of extensive development and testing, the system has applied for certification by EHEDG (European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group). The CIP system has received testimonials from end users that have experienced significant savings in water and labor while providing consistent and effective cleaning.

At Habasit we strive to make the process easier for you, the user. Food saftey has always been a high priority for us and we will continue to develop new products that exceed the standards of the industry.

08/02/2011

Wherever you are and at any time, Habasit’s key objective is to offer superior solutions for its customers by staying true to its guiding principles!

Habasit treasures the word “quality” and what it means to its customers. In the eye of the customer, any product or service is ultimately compared with the “best” that customer has previously encountered, or something they have heard from other sources. For instance, let’s say that a person stays at a luxury hotel like the Ritz Carlton; well, any other may not live up to the customers quality of standards and automatically receive a low comparison in the customers eyes.

You see, customers with selective taste constantly explore the upper limits of quality in every aspect of their lives. Error and defect-free delivery of a product or service is what a customer expects from a company. Some may like to call it the, “right the first time” approach, which is an important aspect of quality. This simply means that the product or service should match the customer’s specifications and requirements the first time and will perform as guaranteed and without exception.

Another essential guiding principal that Habasit endeavors on is service and support. Habasit promotes solutions, not products and with that being said, it is key to discover what the customer’s needs are and then sell them the solution. Another key method Habasit practices is partnerships, not sales. This method is used for emerging maintainable lasting relationships. If customers see you as a “product-pusher” instead of a trusted advisor then they are not going to continue a relationship with you. Customer perception and buying decisions are based on conscious as well as unconscious drivers.

The last and most essential guiding principal that Habasit exhibits is innovation through its products and services. This guiding principal permits Habasit to foster growth and keep business flexibility. Our state-of-the-art facilities help us achieve just that. We all see other companies that are innovative and we wonder how can we pull off the same thing? You see, innovation is a new match between a solution and a need. The innovation can be in the solution, in the need, or in the match. This simply means that this “new match” results in a specific market, leading to a demand for the solution. Customers want to engage in solutions they perceive to aid their particular needs best.

Habasit has an extensive network of distributors, dedicated sales force, and customer care representatives that are ready to serve our customers! Our guiding principals have helped us attain and maintain our positive partnerships through the years.